Railroad tie plate and spike



Juli 16, 0. F. H R ET AL 2,208,489

RAILROAD TIE PLATE AND SPIKE Filed 001. 14, 1958 J 9.Z 4- /0 J x 6 k9 a I? \4 lei/M.

XTTORNEYS.

IN VEN TOR.

Patented July 16, 1940 UNITED STATES RAILROAD TIE PLATE AND SPIKE Oscar F. Arthur and Frederick Schulle, Pueblo, Colo.

Application October 14, 1938, Serial No. 235,050

Taking a 112 pound railroad rail as an example, the standard base of such a rail is five and one-half inches wide, but the rolling mills are permitted to increase this width'up to one-sixteenth of an inch, this variation being known as tolerance. The mills, furthermore, are permitted to reduce the width of the rail base to a minimum of five and seven-sixteenths inches. The tie plate seat has a width, between the shoulders, of five and nine-sixteenths inches, with one-sixteenth of an inch additional tolerance permitted. The spike hole or slot through the tie plate, for five-eighths of an inch spikes, is eleven-sixteenths of an inch, and the mills are permitted a variation of one thirty-second of an inch in size and location. These combinations of tolerances in the plate seat, the rail and spike holes, therefore, allow a total tolerance of three-sixteenths of an inch on one rail, or three-eighths of an inch on both rails. This, naturally, sets up objectionable variations in the distance or gage between the rails.

In addition to inaccuracies of gage, due to the combination of tolerances above referred to, the

-= low shoulder on tie plates now in use does not properly support the back of a spike. Therefore, the load thrust against the spike causes it to bend backwardly. Furthermore, the permissible tolerance in the spike hole, which makes it larger than the spike, permits the spike to be driven at an angle and allows the spike to twist out of position while being driven. These inaccuracies in spike driving have become more pronounced since the recent method of using power hammers has been placed generally in effect.

The purpose of the present invention is to get away from the variations or tolerances in the spike holes through the tie plate, to provide a spike hole or slot that will not permit the spike to be driven at an angle or twist, and to provide a high backup shoulder supporting the spike and preventing it from bending outwardly under load thrusts. In order to accomplish this end, the spike hole and the spike have been so made that when the spike is driven into the slot, it will be perfectly seated, having contact with the plate on all four sides, and since the slot in the plate fits the spike, the spike, during driving, will be guided to proper position and will not twist out of place.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in view,

with upstanding shoulders 3 which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of What is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 shows in elevation, a device constructed in accordance with the invention, the rail being in section;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. i;

Fig. 3 is a top plan of the spike; and

Fig. 4 is a section at right angles to the showing of Fig. 2.

In the drawing there is shown a tie I, on which rests a tie plate 2. The tie plate 2 is supplied of considerable height, and of considerable width transversely of the tie plate 2. Between the shoulders 3 there is a seat 4, receiving the flange 5 of a rail 6.

Any desired number of openings l are formed in the tie plate 2, through the shoulders 3, and nearer to the inner edges of the shoulders than to the outer end surfaces thereof. The openings 1 are of polygonal cross section, preferably square,

and they taper, as they extend downwardly.

A spike is shown at 8 and includes a neck 9 and a head H). The neck 9 of the spike is of polygonal cross section, preferably square, and, when the spike is driven, the neck 9, in cross section, will conform closely to the cross section of the opening I, the neck of the spike being seated firmly in the opening.

Owing to the high backup shoulders 3 that are provided, the spike 8 cannot bend backwardly under thrust, nor can it twist more or less out of place, about a substantially vertical axis. 40

The cross section of the neck 9 of the spike 8 is such, considered relatively to the cross sec;-

tional area of the opening F, that, when the neck of the spike is seated firmly in the opening, the head Ii] of the spike will bear downwardly upon the upper surface of the flange 5 of the rail E, the neck 9 of the spike being spaced from the edge of the flange 5, and the rail 6 being held in place by downward pressure on the upper surface of the flange 5.

The inner wall of the opening l is vertical, the head ill of the spike bearing on the upper surface of the flange 5 of the rail, but there being no engagement between the neck 1 of the spike and the edge of the flange 5 of the rail.

the shoulder, the inner wall of the opening being disposed at right angles to the lower surface of the plate, and a spike having a head and a downwardly tapered neck, the neck being shaped to seat firmly in the opening before the undersurface of the head is flush with the upper surface of the shoulder, the inner surface of the neck being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the spike, for cooperation with the inner wall of the openmg.

OSCAR F. ARTHUR.

FREDERICK SCHULLE. 

